After relentless Allied bombardments on Okinawa, the last bastion before Japan’s shores, April 12, 1945, witnessed a drastic turn. Pushed to their limits, the Japanese forces orchestrated a massive kamikaze assault, unparalleled in scale and desperation.
That afternoon, the sky above Okinawa transformed into a battleground. A swarm of kamikaze planes, each manned by a pilot with a singular, grim mission, descended upon the Allied ships. Among those in the crosshairs was USS Idaho, a battleship whose valor and might had become the stuff of legend.
On this day, USS Idaho—affectionately known as the Big Spud—braced for an unprecedented challenge. Five kamikaze pilots singled her out, diving out of the sun’s blinding light in a tactical maneuver designed to confuse and overwhelm her gunners. This approach rendered Idaho’s lower defenses, the 20-millimeter guns, ineffective as the aircraft skimmed perilously close to the ocean’s surface.
Yet, as the kamikaze planes bore down, the ship’s 40-millimeter guns were ready to destroy anything that dared come too close to the Big Spud.
source
The fiends would have carried on, until the last man standing had it not been for the atom bomb. The nips did not give a damn about life, except their leaders who signed away their country, knowing that they would die if they had not capitulated
Idaho had 14inch guns, why would they be jawdropping when 16inch/45, 16inch/50, and for the Japanese of course 18inch guns exist?
"Legend" ?? F**k me, Dark Seas, you are so full of PR sh*t!
Idaho baby, it ain't just potatoes.
Really there was little that the Japanese could do in Alaska.
we need these ships back on active service.
They been saying since ww2 that battle ships are no longer of use but they keep bringing them in to do battle 😎
Ive flown c130s and crewed cutters to Alaska. I never floated.
Anti aircraft guns do not “pump lead”🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️
The Houthis said bring it on—-
American battleships refitted for modern warfare would be able to carry staggering amount of missiles . Adding one of these ships to each aircraft carrier strike group would be able to carry enough missiles to make projecting power even more meaningful . A battleship like Missouri could carry enough missiles to turn iran into a parking lot .
The USS Texas is the last survivor of the 1910s US Battleships
Maybe not previously seen but certainly not ever seen.
must be getting hard up for content cause this is the umpteenth time you've done a vid on the Idaho
If I didn't recall the Big Idaho Potato Truck adds, I would be scratching my head for the whole video as to why she was referred to as the Big Spuds?
"as far as the eye could reach" ?
Yeah but after decommission what happened to her!?!?
Well done gentleman.
An interesting relationship between the title . . . and the truth? Yes. BS as usual. Even the best stories can be ruined with BS titles. Shame 'Tube. 👎
my dad was a plank owner on the iowa bb61 fought in ww2
So ive just come across your channel and have watched a dozen or so videos an still watching as i watch this 1. Love it your narrative/ knowledge and detail is outstanding im subd now the thing that gets me everytime is your intro to each vid no mucking round just straight to its awesome 👍👊
Back to his incohesive overspeed narrative shit again. Watched 10 seconds before thumbs down.
My father, Raymond J. Wick, served aboard the Idaho from Jan. 1944 until discharged in the spring of 1946. His battle station was the port 20mm AA guns, a bank of 3 of them. He told me about this attack which was the only time the ship was hit. He also had a book that the crew put together at the end of the war with pictures of the plane being shot down and splashing right off his AA gun mounts. The picture was taken from the USS Texas which was right behind the Idaho. They would eventually enter a floating drydock for repairs and there is a National Geographic article I believe in 1946 that covers that story and shows her in the floating drydock.
The most jaw dropping on a U.S. Navy battleship. Not the most jaw dropping ever.
CLICK BAIT
Most US battleships of this era were fitted with 16" guns, not 14".
Some Japanese ships had 18" guns. So how does Idaho have "the most jaw dropping guns" at 14"? Oh, improved AA guns? Nope, still not jaw dropping.
Explanation? CLICK BAIT AGAIN, always with DARK SEAS
This is a B/S story.
My father-in-law
Tommy Heckman was one of the 1,500 Alaskan natives called the Alaska guard were the first ins in those islands.
By the time anyone else got there they had killed over 40,000 Japanese forces with 1500 men. They had 3 casualties that were not war related. Frost bite and a sprained ankle was the cause of their wounded.
They hav been compared to Alexander the great with what they accomplished.
By the time the Navy arrived it was already over. The Japanese forces had already left.
If you think this story is hogwash get ahold of the Native veterans Center in Anchorage Alaska and they will straighten you out right quick. Your story is a bulshit story. The Navy was not there when they did it.
8:18 her 5" 25cal guns were replaced with by ten 5" 38cal guns in single enclosed mounts, enhancing her AA capabilities?
Did he get it wrong? I have never seen a single enclosed 5" mount, and havent heard of this mount before, particilarly not for AA use, on a USN battleship. Sounds more like what the Kriegsmarine used on their capital ships. Can anyone shed any light on this?
I have never before heard of this ship being called the "Big Spud." What is the source for this?
Good documentary, bad title. The old battleship didn't have close to the firepower of the newer ones, even after the new 14 inch guns and the improved 5 inch secondary. Yes, she had 12 guns, but the 9 16" ones on the newer ships were far more powerful, with longer range. Weren't the kamikazes armed with 500 kg bombs? Zellars survived but was not repaired when the war ended.